#i love maiko as parents

[fruittarts-with-rosepetals]

after mai became the new firelady, she had a lot of rules that needed to be added to the fire nation constitution and now. She wanted to raise the age of marriage and provide more education for women and this wasnt easy at all, she became stuck at her office more than zuko.

And izumi came along soon and she needed to take a very long break to avoid any complications, so she had to put a pause on her projects but still was present in court (cuz she didnt want to be stuck in the bedchambers,bored, ugh). A year after izumi's birth, she restarted her projects and this needed more work and time out of life than when she started.

So zuko had become the one who tucked izumi to bed and he was more than happy to spend time with his little girl. He loved reading izumi bedtime stories and hear izumi's babbling with often mentions of 'mama' or 'dada'

One evening just around izumi's bedtime, mai was able to get off early, so she decided to join in on tucking izumi to bed. She walked to the princess's room just to stop by the door as she heard zuko's voice.

"and that is the story on how your mama saved me,she defeated the army of bad guys and she once again captured my heart" zuko told izumi who was busy chewing on her turtleduck doll (gifted by her coolest aunt suki and uncle sokka) he finished chuckled as he pressed a kiss against her hair.

Turns out izumi got bored of her bedtime stories and became far more interested in hearing about her mama.

It took zuko 10mins to realize the presence of his wife(who was smiling) as he was too busy talking with his daughter in his baby-voice (after he once sweared he would never in a million years talk like that to children) while izumi was babbling and grabbing his hair to chew on

[yourhighness6]

The writers really said, "Mai has felt extremely suppressed trying to fit into the box of perfect noblewoman" and then the m@iko fandom said, "Wouldn't it be so cute if she became fire lady and had to deal with the nobility for the rest of her life"

[maikosweethearts]

It’s Monday. I miss Maiko’s week. I miss Mai. I miss Zuko. It will last until the end of the year and continue on and on.

[bluespiritshonour]

Maiko Week Day 4: parents

The royal couple and the crown princess sneak out in civilian disguise to enjoy family time. Let's just pretend Zuko thinks his hair is enough to hide his scar—I couldn't be bothered to put a hood on him.

Colour picked from scenes of A Silent Voice and I love the results. Colours in anime are so good.

[homuraakemis]

I keep seeing anti-Maiko people complain that Mai never had a redemption arc to learn about why the Fire Nation was bad, and that's why she shouldn't be with Zuko. And I think that fundamentally misunderstands what a secondary character is. Mai is not a main character. She is a secondary character. She is there to provide support to the narrative, she is there to fulfill her plot purposes and that's it. That doesn't mean she has no character development, but her character development is mostly related to her function in the narrative. In Mai's case, her main functions in the narrative are being Zuko's love interest, and being a key piece in Azula's downfall. Her character development is related to that: we have a girl who is closed off and suppresses her emotions who gradually starts to open up a little through her relationship with Zuko. We also have her feeling like she's always trapped by fear and by others expectations (by her parents and by Azula), and because of her relationship with Zuko, she is able to finally stand up to Azula. That's her character arc. That's what's relevant to her function in the story. Learning about how the Fire Nation is bad is not relevant to her main plot purposes in the story. There's no reason why it can't happen offscreen after the war, with Zuko teaching her about all the things he saw and learned about the Fire Nation during his travels. She is not a main character, the show doesn't need to focus on every single thing about her character. In case people forget, we don't get a "redemption arc" for Ty Lee either, because this is not important, neither Mai or Ty Lee are meant to be the focus of the narrative, we don't need to see them "learning that the Fire Nation is bad".

Another thing that people don't understand is that not every character has to be a copy of Zuko. People act like the only acceptable way for Mai to learn about the wrongs of the Fire Nation is by having a redemption arc like Zuko, but that's not really the case. It's not even feasible: Mai didn't go through the same experiences as Zuko, she wasn't forced to live as a commoner amongst the Earth Kingdom peasants, she wasn't forced to flee as a refugee, so she never really had the opportunity to speak to these people and see their plight the same way Zuko had. Of course Zuko is the one who gets the redemption arc, because he is the main character for which this arc actually matters to the story, but also because the circumstances of his story allow him to have this arc, while the circumstances of Mai's story don't. But that in no way means she is irredeemable or that she can't learn, it just means she will learn about the Fire Nation in a different way than Zuko did, probably through Zuko himself telling her about his experiences and the things he saw. And there's nothing wrong with that! Mai is not a main character, she doesn't need to have some epic redemption journey. She was a Fire Nation noble, just like Zuko, she was taught the same kind of propaganda that Zuko was, so of course she's going to believe in it and believe that Zuko is betraying his country when he tells her he joined the Avatar. But Mai is also not some cruel person, and she's also not a Fire Nation fanatic. If after the show Zuko told her about all the things he saw, she would listen. And in fact, the evidence we have is that she did listen to Zuko and she did learn about the Fire Nation: in the comics she works with Zuko against the New Ozai Society even after they break up. And if you don't want to use the comics as evidence, we have the epilogue of the show as evidence, in which Mai is shown to be on good terms with Team Avatar and playing Pai Sho with Suki. We don't need to see the details of how Mai learned about the Fire Nation being bad (she is not a main character, it's not relevant to the main story), we know that she did learn, we can fill in the blanks with our imagination.

Secondary characters not receiving a huge narrative focus and character development about every single aspect of their characters is not "bad writing". Bad writing would be if the show focused on every detail of every secondary character, because that would be losing narrative focus. Just because certain people don't like Mai with Zuko and use this as an excuse to say why the ship is bad, it doesn't mean that Mai not having a redemption arc is "bad writing".

Finally, this isn't a reason for her not to be with Zuko. Some people argue that Zuko would never want to be with Mai after his redemption because of her still believing that the Fire Nation was in the right, but people forget that if there's one person who knows what is like to have been brainwashed since childhood with propaganda about the Fire Nation, that person is Zuko. And Zuko was way more enthusiastic about the Fire Nation being right and the Fire Nation winning the war than Mai ever was. Why would he hold it against her that she believed in Fire Nation propaganda, when he himself knows what is like to believe in said propaganda? The most likely thing to happen is that he would want to teach her about everything he learned about the Fire Nation, he wouldn't break up with her just because she didn't magically unlearn an entire life of indoctrination.

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

It's been a long time since I watched ATLA last. But I remember thinking the entirety of The Beach Episode that the way they said “Ember Island gives everyone a clean slate” has to mean something, right?

And it does, since they all admit things out loud that they've never done before. Mai expressing herself with strong emotion, we get Ty Lee's backstory and for the very first time, we see Azula as not perfect.

And then Zuko finally admits he's angry at himself. It got me thinking—especially given that he and Mai are a lot more open with each other after this episode even if Zuko's turmoil isn't solved—that whether him blowing up with jealousy at Mai talking to another boy wasn't so much jealousy as him being high strung and he just blew up at Mai for no particular reason, just because he could. (Like, not saying it was excusable because he was troubled. It wasn't.)

It just got me thinking that Zuko isn't inherently the jealous type—he wanted something to be mad at and this seemed like a nice opportunity. Because he gets to shove the guy and stuff—but everytime Mai reminds him of her boundaries/breaks up with him, he backs down/looks sad. While he isn't keeping himself from accusing Mai just because he's going through shit, he's not actively looking to be mad at her—but he wants to beat *someone* up and the boy talking to Mai is a good target.

I don't know. They never do anything with that very nasty trait of his and in the context of the rest of the episode it felt like he was going through shit and he just found a reason (a flimsy one) to go off the tangent.

Or do you think Zuko is actually the jealous kind of boyfriend? Too bad for Mai, I'd prefer it if he wasn't—or at least they'd shown him overcome it otherwise because I ship Maiko and Zuko drove me up the wall in that episode.

I think Zuko being the jealous type makes sense. He grew up with an abusive parent that made it VERY clear that he was disposable and could lose his affection the second Azula did something impressive.

It's not strange that this insecurity would manifest in his other relationships, especially since Mai had not reacted well to his attempts to do something nice for her earlier in the episode. During 16 years of his life "You didn't impress me" meant "I am actively looking for a replacement because you clearly can't do anything right", OF COURSE he saw the guy that was visibly into Mai as a threat even if she was obviously uninterested.

Him working on his anger issues and realizing Ozai was actually a shitty person who didn't deserve HIS love (and psychologically destroyed the kid he favor) likely means he will be a bit more chill when it comes to jealousy, but he'll still need to keep himself in check.

[headhedgehog]

do you still do Maiko fanfics if so can you do one :)

Just for you, Anon <3

Mai watched the rain from the window seat of her study, book forgotten in her lap. She’d begged off tea with the Earth King’s spouse, claiming a bad headache. Not the most diplomatic moment in her short tenure as Fire Lady, but she couldn’t bring herself to care.

A sudden movement behind her sent her scrambling for the dagger she kept under the cushion, only stopped by a kiss on top of her head.

“I’m going to gut you one of these days,” she chastised Zuko as he joined her on the window seat.

“I knocked.” He tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. “You didn’t answer, I thought you’d fallen asleep.”

Mai hummed and leaned into him. He smelled like home, sandalwood and wood smoke. She sighed contentedly and snuggled closer.

“What’s on your mind?” Zuko asked after a moment. She felt his lips brush her temple again and groaned.

“Your mother was hinting about a baby again,” she said, staring ahead even as Zuko pulled back to look at her. “And Iroh was there, and he just joined right in.”

“I can talk to them, if you want,” Zuko said. He seemed to accept that Mai wasn’t going to look at him and pulled her closer. “They mean well, but it’s none of their business if we decide to have a baby or not.”

“It kind of is, though, isn’t it? You’re the Fire Lord, it’s everyone’s business if you don’t have kids.”

She felt Zuko’s shrug under her head. “I suppose. Doesn’t mean they get to ask you about it.”

Mai didn’t answer. Zuko shifted to make her look at him. “Mai, is that all that’s wrong?”

“I can’t even hear someone behind me without nearly killing them, Zuko,” Mai said, her eyes still not meeting his. “What if we have a baby and I hurt them? Not on purpose, but –”

Zuko pulled her into a hug, cutting off her anxious thoughts. “We lived through a war, Mai. Those reflexes served you well. But the world is different now, and hopefully those reflexes can start to wear away.”

“I don’t want to be the reason for problems in your reign,” she said quietly. “And I don’t want to be like our parents.”

Zuko’s arm tightened around her. “I think you’d be a great mom, Mai. But we don’t have to find out any time soon. Or ever. I’ll name my own heir, who cares if they’re our kid?”

Mai sat up and kissed her husband on the cheek. “I love you.”

“I love you too, Mai.”

[atla-confessions]

That long Mai hate message justifying hating her because 'she's useless to the plot' like a 2000s Naruto fan pissed me off,so i'm listening things i love about Mai:

She's goth and goths are cool

Her humor is genuinely funny and she gives good burns without being a bully

Her fighting style is super badass

Her voice is pretty

So is her design

Maiko and Mailee are mad cute,we love a bi queen!!

She has parental abuse trauma and is an imperfect victim

She has tgirl swag

Despite her minimal screentime,she's a very memorable character and the show wouldn't be the same without her

And she pisses off point dexter pick mes

X

[amiedeselfes]

I have a new headcanon

Sure the idea of Ren coming from Inaba but what about Ren coming from Iwatodai?

Little boy who has no real loving or present parents, who spends time with the strays around. He's aware and awake during the Dark Hour but escape shadows because he runs after cats and since they run away from danger he escapes it

He often ends up around the SEES and he's still a quiet boy but still social butterfly. He can talk a lot about things that interest him but outside of that he's mostly a listener

He finds it lame SEES don't have special costumes for being heroes, he played with Evoker once but screamed Featherman instead, he has potential but never awoken it, stayed a child who hung out with SEES

He's a friend of Maiko and Ken (oh oh), learned French from Mitsuru (which ended up affecting him on why he has Arsène), learned cooking with Shinjiro too.

Also recall that in p5 we actually never sign a contract with Velvet Room? Imagine he did it when he was there in Iwatodai, just 6 years old but actually never awoken his potential so he never went to velvet room despite signing (or maybe he went one time but never again and thought of it as a funny dream)

I didn't finish the game yet but Ren recalling Ken when Akechi talks about his revenge sounds funny to me (nothing could go wrong)

Maybe he is an Arcana for Makoto but idk which one I just like to imagine him around coffins playing hide and seek absolutely insensitive to it which played later on in Tokyo.

[astridsinthesky]

MEET MAIKO

; a lovable jellyfish inkling who can do anything and everything just as long as it has a written instruction manual

man! i had a hard time designing her since i had to come up with how a jellyfish-inkling hybrid would look like ;-; it was so funny explaining her backstory by saying “when a short daddy jellyfish falls in love with a fall mommy inkling they make a Maiko lololol”

ORION & MAIKO

; i made it clear in the last post that Orion & Maiko are technically cousins. the jellyfish family that adopted Orion is related to Maiko’s family

Maiko is the reason why Orion found he’s an Octoling and as well as turf wars due to her insightful rambles

Maiko wasn’t surprised that Orion was an Octoling since she grew and live in the Splatlands until she moved to Inkopolis to be closer to Orion

As adults , the two are next door neighbors

BACK TO SCHOOL

; Maiko is the only one on her team that goes to school, specifically art school. Of course, living on your own and being a full time student is expensive which is why she works part time at Grizzco Industries earning employee of the month 5 times in a row every since she started (this is why you should read the Grizzco manual)

Of course she does have her moments where she gets a little curious about the machinery of the Salmonid

WHEN A SHORT DADDY JELLYFISH AND A TALL MOMMY INKLING FALL IN LOVE…

; haha i love saying that out loud. in the splatoon universe, the jellyfishes are just kind of there and are made to imitate and copy off of what they see in their surroundings. i did make a little note for their parents that her mom taught her dad the language and hence at least a sense of individualism. Her dad is made to look like a Compass Jellyfish, other wise known as a Chrysaora hysoscella

look how cute baby Maiko is~

BANG DREAM: IT’S MAIKO!!!!!

; a little funny reference to BanG Dream’s MyGO!!!!! ofc this is for me to Segway to her hero mode icon and splashtag

Maiko’s whole thing is that she wants to have a purpose in order to fulfill that role she plans her life, such as going to art school and working part time to pay for said art school, but she comes to learn is that her ideal life isn’t always planned out or, for her, written in an instructional manual, but rather it’s the richness and experience that makes it fulfilling. In bandori terms, she’s lost

now why did I explain that, well Maiko’s splashtag could be read two different ways mai-ko (舞子), her name, OR mai-go (迷子), which means “lost child.” The character for -ko & -go are the same, so I wanted to play it off. Ofc, mai in both words have different characters which is why I left it untouched. This also circles back to why i chose her being part compass jellyfish because you know… compasses???

you could also see her hair more clearly in her icon, it’s two tentacles cut in haft and tied into pigtails

~ END OF INTRODUCTION ~

; this is the first time I ever made these long informational post for one oc lolol thanks for reading if you made this far o7

[peculiaritybending]

Do you think that Maiko were in a relationship* before Zuko was banished? Or atleast were aware of their feelings? The getting together after S2 seems to be approached very casually in a way that a new relationship wouldn't be

* relationship here meaning a silly middle school one where they hold hands and cute stuff like that

OH YES I DEFINITELY THINK SO !!

I actually think their relationship would have been kind of similar to how it is shown in s3, being casual but very supportive and loving too (not without some disagreements and silly arguments though of course) but more awkward and childish. I also think they would have been less guarded and closed off with each other, being younger and it being before Zuko’s banishment and all. I think that’s part of why Zuko is often trying to get Mai to open up and express herself more. He remembers when they trusted each other and would confide in each other a lot as children and wanted that security back. This isn’t to say I think he was unhappy with their relationship in s3 or that Mai or, Zuko for that matter, was ever super open with their feelings. I think Mai is naturally a very closed off person and so is Zuko to an extent. What I mean is I think they would probably be the type to complain about things together in a very dramatic pre-teen and/or early teen way. Very emo/goth and dramatic like “Life is a prison. There is a black void inside me. The world is a dark and miserable place. Wanna write poetry and hold hands about it?”

I think they also seem like the type to play harmless pranks on people but specifically more the type that irritate or confuse people and not the like “bucket of water above the door way” type. I feel like they would do shit like make the guards think there was a ghost in the palace or move Mai’s parents’ belongings to weird places in the house and watch them get annoyed and confused about it. Both of them having an interest in blades is something I always thought would have been something they would share with each other. I can see them both practicing their skills together. There’s probably a tree in the palace garden with lots of long slashes in it from Zuko’s dual swords and deep indentations from Mai’s throwing knives and maybe even their names carved in it (twice because Azula stole Zuko’s knife and scratched it out once out of jealousy).

That’s all I have right now, I could probably spend hours coming up with cute and silly little scenarios of the two of them if I tried. Thank you for the ask I love having an excuse to talk about these two.

[bemnie]

Zutara au idea:

'finding love in each other later in life zutara' (idk why but i love them the most at older adult/middle age/elderly lol)

but the show would end the same with kataang and maiko and kataang would have a kid pretty early (like early 20s) and upon having Bumi they realize that they never really got to experience romance other than with each other and both crave those experiences so they break up. Katara would allow herself to date n stuff while still co parenting with Aang and doing her political duties and maybe after a few years of being single/short term relationships she suddenly starts seeing Zuko in a new light! (i cant really think of the spefici inciting incident rahh) Zuko and Mai were probably really really on again off again type relationship (could also have a child together) and rn theyve been off for a while . And so after some pining and small flirting on each side they eventually start dating! I imagine it being fairly slow burn once the pining starts, both not wanting to rush things like they had in their pervious relationships (kataang and maiko) and both being a bit nervous to mess this up! but then once they start dating its like. MEGA cutiepie sweetieness!!!!! Katara and Zuko would both be really great parents to the others kid and i think it could be really interesting way to explore finding love later in life and blending of 2 pre existing families with a healthy healthy dose of the sweetest fluff ever :3!!!!!

might try 2 draw some scenes or attempt writting something for it idk I just love to come up with ideas ^_^

[flameohotwife]

So I always thought the canon pairings in AtLA had good writing/development but all the Aang and Mai bashing has made me decide to rewatch the series because shippers of a certain other ship called them "abusive" and Aang sexist. But honestly, I love how Mai calls Zuko out on his jealousy and possessive behavior in "The Beach" and Aang is always supportive of Katara's dreams, even refusing to be trained by Pakku because he's sexist to Katara. I like that Sukka teaches kids watching the show to treat women with respect but also Kataang and Maiko in the examples I mentioned above are also good examples of feminist moments in the show too.

YES! Anon, say it louder for the people in the back! There are so so SO many amazing feminist moments in this show and honestly I loved watching it with my kids (multiple times, haha) for that reason. I don't remember growing up with media that showed SO may instances of how girls/women could stand up for themselves in those types of situations. I love how Katara stood up to Pakku (with Aang's support! His little "Go, Katara!" makes me smile every time) and also how she CONSTANTLY takes boys on in fights, from pirates and Rough Rhinos to the taunting kids that subsequently get frozen where they stand ("oh, a girl has her ways") and anyone who insults Aang. How SHE is the one to defeat Azula in the end. How the WHOLE SHOW starts with her rant against Sokka's sexism. How Suki finally put's Sokka in his place. How Toph had to be played by "a really BUFF guy" in EIP because the Fire Nation couldn't admit to being bested by a tiny, 12-year-old girl. How Mai won't let Zuko treat her like a possession with no agency of her own. How she is the one to save HIM in the end at Boiling Rock (how's that for a damsel in distress?). How Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee are trusted by the Fire Lord to perform tasks even the highest generals can't achieve. How the show is relentlessly turning sexist stereotypes on their heads and making viewers question what they think they know.

Beyond the feminism (which you all probably already know I adore so much), I love that each of the leading boys has learning experiences wrt less-than-ideal behaviors towards girls/women, because in real life boys (and girls, too!) are GOING to make mistakes as they're learning and it's important to show how they can move beyond those mistakes and not forever be defined by them. Zuko learns not to be a possessive asshat like he is in The Beach (at least, we don't see him act that way towards Mai again--he might as well have broken up with her via text and not given her the option to follow him to the "good side," but he never acts possessive again. Baby steps). Aang learns he can't just solve their relationship problems by kissing Katara when she's confused. He gives her space and she clearly thinks he's learned from it by the end (really, by the next episode). Sokka learns not to be sexist and that sometimes girls are going to be stronger/better fighters than he is AND THAT'S OKAY. Good, even! It doesn't make him "less of a man" or anything like that, and we don't hear those sexist ideas come out of his mouth again. ALL of these make great talking points for parents watching the show with their kids, too.

Kids make mistakes. They lean on stereotypes or prior experiences and sometimes that bites them in the butt. AtLA shows that we can teach kids hard lessons. Not only can we fight back against injustice but we can improve ourselves when we've been the ones to mess up. And I really think that's something special.

Thanks for sending in your thoughts, anon! You're so right.

[dieauster-und-diegarnele]

A:tla - fire meta and theories

water/earth/fire/air/general

Zuko and opium

Azula and non-benders

Zuko, Azula and Aang - height

Zuko is not hateful

Fireball in the face

Audience with Azulon

Zuko and Azula's Agni Kai - lightning

Zuko covering his face from the fire

Referring to Zuko as a "prince"

Zuko's pose

Zuko is both cool and awkward

Zuko protecting Sokka

Was Ursa scared of her husband?

Difference between Ozai and Zuko's childhood

On Ozai abusing Azula

Ozai, Parenting, and Abuse

Firebending during eclipce, night etc

Zuko's redemption arc

Azula's thoughts on Iroh

Azula's bending

Abusive father Ozai (pt 1 - Zuko, link for Azula is down there)

A parallel. Just as Roku did with Sozin, Zuko spares his father.

Asian view on heirs, sons and daughters

Zuko & Azula: Eyes

Azula is not the most powerful firebender in atla

Azula’s downfall is foreshadowed

Zuko should just follow the cabbage guy

Zuko is a theatre kid

Azula, conditioned love etc

“The Beach” in terms of Azula

Long meta about Azula

Zuko is not tall (as well as Sokka)

Zuko and Iroh's prison dialoge: the great directing

Zuko is being cared and healthy

Yon Rha and Iroh crimes

Zuko's scar camera framing

The fact that Zuko even considers having Katara heal his scar is probably a red flag for him siding with his sister

Zuko and Ozai camera framing

“You can’t treat me like Zuko!”

Ozai and Zuko - talking with father

About Iroh and Ozai's past and characters in general

Modern!AU Zuko and Azula

Ozai is very concentrated when bending - screenshots

Iroh and Ozai - Azula and Zuko (parallels)

Why does Iroh talk to Zuko in metaphors

Ursa’s departure caused Ozai to become worse

Aang and Zuko talking about Ozai

Iroh: "She's crazy and she needs to go down" line

Do we ever see Ozai actually care about stopping Aang?

How important firebending is to Ozai

Ozai: what having your bending taken from you must entail

Ozai is objectively speaking the worst firelord

Was it just “speaking out of turn”?

"Good" and "bad" guys in Fire royal family

Zuko and Iroh: waiting all night

Zuko Centric-Morality and the Fire Nation

Is Zuko is a better bender than Aang?

In defense of Mai and Maiko. Let’s talk about seashells

Ozai did cared about his family in the past

Iroh and Zuko’s wanted poster; there’s a specific line

Why Azulon had a second son in tags (I personally love the first and the last ones)

Zuko is canonically bisexual

Zuko, Jet and Jin: flirting

Zuko falls for Jin, restaurant scene part 2 (part 1 link is in the post)

Evidence that Zuko looks like Ozai

Zuko can find almost anything, a list

How many places Zuko has broken into (Zuko being competent while thinking he is not)

Iroh spends the whole show vibing with everyone

Why Zuko's redemption arc is so good

Zuko: it is so much easier to believe in the impossible than it is to believe that your father is a monster

About Zuko's trauma

Two Zuko's least popular hairstyles (spoiler: blame Iroh)

And a bit more about Zuko's ponytail

Firebending study: Why Ozai is the top Firebender in ATLA

How sexist is the Fire Nation?

Post-war economy in the Fire Nation

Fire Nation cultural inspiration

Mai can't say "I love you" (but she really loves Zuko)

[bluespiritshonour]

The Boling Rock has got to be my favourite Maiko epsiode because of several things:

I expected them to pull the plug on Maiko the moment Zuko switched sides. But while he did break up with her there wasn't any animosity.

Now, you might ask why would I expect animosity in this situation?

Because what we get to see of their relationship is at a time when Zuko's struggling with his Identity—so most of it is them not working out.

And now that Zuko is one of the heroes, and Mai one of the villains you'd expect for her to be put in her place. Like it often happens to female villains.

But Zuko only seemed sad at the prospect of leaving her.

I had a feeling that Zuko's feelings for Mai weren't as strong as hers were for him. Until he tells Sokka about her.

It's such a simple thing, he just talks fondly of her. And it does more to show that he genuinely wants to be with her than several episodes before that did.

Then, again, because we're used to tropes, I kept expecting them to have a final fallout. Because something about that break up did not feel very final. Or wasn't disparaging to Mai.

But Boiling Rock keeps rolling and there's no signs of Maiko sinking. If anything they go ahead and pull her betraying everything she's ever known for him.

Zuko shows no signs of ill will towards her. Even when she's on the wrong side of the war. Even when he thinks she's loyal to Azula. Even when he probably can't begin to think about the outcome of the war—and them being able to get together depends on that.

He still can't help but be hopelessly in love with her. (I honestly did not think he loved her back before this episode. It felt like she put his needs first and he liked her because of it).

Compare that to the ease with which he cut ties with Ozai and Azula: he simply couldn't bring himself to approach Mai that way.

I think that's the kind of unconditional love Mai needs. Her parents' love for her was extremely conditional, Zuko's wasn't.

[wanzerous]

𝘀𝘂𝗻𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗲, 𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗲, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗼𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗲.

so i was posting this elsewhere, but i want to bring it here! i don't know if it's worth keeping, but i'm happy to share the content here! this takes place in the tokyo revengers world, starting from the very beginning (fem!reader). long story short . . .

loss. you always lose something. people have a habit of losing things . . . their phones, their keys, their wallets. some, their sense of humanity, or a loved one. things began to spiral the moment you lost your father due to gang violence. since then, you were not big of gangs. to you, they were all horrible.

however . . . there a specific gang that made you question your feelings. the tokyo manji gang worked their way into your life and you weren't sure if this was a blessing or a curse . . .

would you lose them, or would they inevitably lose you?

𐙚⋆.˚ PROLOGUE.

maybe the world wasn't such a cruel place.

" you silly girl, " a rough laugh echoed through the living room of a simplistic house. the walls were white but decorated with minimal paintings. there was a soft melody in the background; a radio that played gentle jazz music. the house smelt of freshly baked ham and homemade cherry pie. 

" come dance with me! " a male spoke, and a whiff of cedarwood came to your senses. this man wore fine threads; a clean button-down with a slightly loosened red tie. he wore tan-colored pants, with a brown leather belt to hold himself up. his hands were large and properly cared for; nails cut and polished carefully. to add to his wide hands, he wore an expensive watch.

these hands reached forward to grab a hold of an equally excited young girl; the prettiest young lady in japan. well, that's what her father told her, anyway. she had bright eyes and the prettiest smile. her hair was nothing but soft, and it was groomed nicely. small hands reached upward, and tiny fingers gripped onto the hands of the older man. she was swayed to the gentle music on her feet at first before she was lifted and spun in the air. 

the moment was perfect. the family was happy. 

" honey! don't spin her so much or else she'll get dizzy! " a woman called out; voice almost like silk. she placed the ham platter on the table, and wiped her hands on her apron, before placing them on her hips. though she was too, dressed lovely, it wasn't as nice as the father. a simple skirt that reached her ankles; an olive green color, and a tan top that rested off the shoulders. 

she wore her hair tied back into a messy bun, showing off her diamond earrings. 

" aww maiko dearest, " the male chuckled, placing the young girl on his hip, " if you want to dance, just join us. " he teased her, reaching out to grab her hand. this hand, being her left, showed a ring. happily married. " don't be shy. you're always light on your feet. "

he pulled her close, his hand on her waist as she playfully whined, resting one hand on his broad shoulder, and the other on the back of you, " we shouldn't be long, " the woman smiled softly, " or else dinner will get cold. " and together, they finished the song as one. a family. 

little did they know this would be their last dance as one. 

their last moments together as a family. 

there was a ruckus hours later. screaming. crying, and it startled the young girl from her peaceful sleep. with a full belly, she waddled toward her door and opened it, peeking outside where she found her parents.

her father stood in front of her mother defensively, yelling at a few men. a few scary ones; that matched from head to toe. the atmosphere grew heavy, and you were a smart girl. their body language made your heart thump, and the anger within your father's words made the hairs on your arms stand upright.

" your business is with me, not my family! get out of my home, and we can talk about this elsewhere!  " your father yelled at them, aggressively pointing at the door, " get the hell out! " it wasn't like your father to yell. he was always a nice man. respectful, a gentleman. you've never seen him so angry. 

your emotions began to surface, and you pulled your bedroom door open nervously, tears forming in your eyes, " mommy , " you called out softly, in which eyes fell onto you. those scary men eyed you down; your mother rushed over to your side.

" don't look at my child! " your father spat, moving to stand in their gaze. he shielded you from them, and you were lifted, " stay in your room, sweetheart.. " your mother whispered as calmly as she could. but her hands and voice shook, and she looked over at the man she cared for. she took a slightly nervous breath before she quickly snuck off to the side, fingers tracing the phone that hung onto the wall. 

with the little bit of courage she had, she dialed the emergency number and placed it against her ear, all while taking multiple nervous glances back in that direction. " h-hello? " she called to the speaker on the phone, " there's - " the yelling increased in volume, and steps grew heavy. things began to knock off of surfaces and crash onto the ground. " sugita ..! " your mother called, the men throwing forceful fists at one another.

sugita, your father, wasn't weak though. with these men obviously ganging up on him, he stood his ground the best he could. his strength was unmatched, and while fighting, he still managed to give you and your mother the attention needed, " go! " he shouted indirectly before he was caught in the face. 

" i-i can't just leave you ! " maiko cried, holding you close. you saw everything. you felt, everything. and you wailed in your mother's arms. " i'll be fine! " he yelled sternly, and your mother took his order to heart. she rushed to the back, in their room, and went to grab a small bag that was in the corner. you didn't have time to question it. a black bag. the tussling stopped for a moment; a split second and heavy grunts and pants came from the room.

" SHIT! THAT BITCH CALLED THE COPS! "

the men panted, and maiko took a deep breath, " it's going to be okay. " she whispered, looking over her shoulder toward the closed door, " hide in the closet for the moment, okay? " she placed you by the closet door and slid it open, " go, i'll  be back! " she placed the suitcase inside beside the wall, and rushed out. she didn't give you time to call out to her. don't leave me.

the closet was dark. and you could hear muffled noises, and then a panicked cry came from the room. you sniffled, blending in with the clothes easily until you heard your mother.

" SUGITA ! IT'S GOING TO BE OKAY! "

she sobbed, voice cracking as the sirens blared. your fight or flight activated.

you opened the closet door and left the bedroom, rushing down the hall to take sight of the mess. broken glass scattered around their living room; muddy footsteps near the front door. there was blood ... so much blood. 

and there was your dad, holding on for his life. his pajama shirt was torn, and a deep stab wound in his chest. your mother sat beside him, holding him close as he panted, " please don't just stand there! help him! " your mother cried. " he's going to die! please! " 

daddy was going to die. 

you weren't going to see him anymore. 

pretty eyes laid on your father, and though you couldn't see his expression, you knew it wasn't good. he weakly held onto the hand of your mother, whispering softly. you couldn't make out what he said, but you heard the bass of his voice. " i love you too ... " your mother sobbed, " but it's going to be okay! don't talk to me like that! " 

a few moments later, the paramedics rushed through the door with a gurney equipped, " ma'am, please stand back! " one of them announced and she, once they had a hold of him, moved out the way. her legs covered in blood, and the tips of her nightgown as well. 

she placed her hands over her mouth as she tried to suppress her cries. she glanced back, where she saw you; completely traumatized. " ( y/n ) ! " she called out, her voice hoarse as the two of you locked eyes for one second. 

just one , and your vision grew blurry. 

what was blurry turned black, and things fell silent.

maybe the world wasn't such a cruel place.

. 　　            ⊹ ✦ 　 ✵ 　　　　　* 1312 words.

sunshine, rainshine, and moonshine. chapter one [here].